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Mexico's Dumping of Subsidized Sugar Has Ended up Costing Hawaii Its Sugar Industry
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(66 seconds)
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(OPEN):
ALOHA, HAWAIIAN SUGAR; UNFORTUNATELY, IN THIS CASE, "ALOHA" MEANS GOODBYE.
AFTER MORE THAN A CENTURY IN BUSINESS, HAWAII PRODUCED ITS LAST SUGAR-CROP, IN DECEMBER.
RYAN WESTON--WHO REPRESENTS THE INDUSTRY IN WASHINGTON--BLAMES AN UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC-CLIMATE FOR THE
DOWNFALL...
(WESTON):
"SUGAR-PRICES HAVE BEEN LOW, FOR MANY
YEARS--BECAUSE MEXICO BROKE U-S TRADE-LAWS, AND DUMPED TONS OF SUBSIDIZED SUGAR ONTO OUR MARKET.
THE U-S GOVERNMENT JUST NEGOTIATED A LEGAL-SETTLEMENT, TO STOP MEXICO'S PREDATORY
TRADE-PRACTICES--BUT IT WAS TOO LATE FOR HAWAII. MEXICO'S DUMPING--COMBINED WITH ADDED
REGULATORY-BURDENS--WAS JUST TOO MUCH TO OVERCOME. LOTS OF WONDERFUL PEOPLE LOST THEIR
JOBS--AND IT'S A SHAME."
(CLOSE):
WESTON--WHO TRAVELED TO HAWAII, FOR THE LAST FACTORY-CLOSING--SAYS THAT IT SHOULD SERVE AS A CAUTIONARY TALE, AS CONGRESS BEGINS DEBATE OF U-S SUGAR-POLICY.
THAT POLICY OPERATES AT NO COST TO TAXPAYERS--AND OFFERS SOME PROTECTION FROM SUBSIDIZED FOREIGN-SUGAR.
WITHOUT IT, WESTON FEARS, IT WON'T BE LONG BEFORE THE REST OF AMERICA'S SUGAR-INDUSTRY SAYS ALOHA.
LEARN MORE AT "SUGAR-ALLIANCE"-DOT-ORG.
FOR THE "INTERNATIONAL SWEETENER SYMPOSIUM" IN SAN DIEGO,
I'M ERIC JON MAGNUSON.
For more audio from many of those participating in the 34th-annual
International Sweetener Symposium, click
here.
